


I can't help but love you even though I've tried not to

by eddiekspbraks



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Boys Kissing, Confident Will, F/M, Fluffy Ending, Forced Marriage, Homophobia, Inspired by Shadowhunters (TV), Internalized Homophobia, Kissing, M/M, Slurs, but doesnt want to, im really bad at tags, mike has to marry jane, mike is alec, shadowhunters au, shitty parent ted, will is magnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-24 01:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13800786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eddiekspbraks/pseuds/eddiekspbraks
Summary: Turning his head, he saw Jane for the first time. She had stopped at the top of the aisle and was smiling at him. Mike knew that he was supposed to find her pretty, well, there was no denying that she was pretty, he just felt no attraction towards her; he was doing this to please his parents.





	I can't help but love you even though I've tried not to

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mikeandwill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikeandwill/gifts).



> essentially this is a 1x12 shadowhunters au for byler. im sorry if this is really shit i just had a lot of inspiration tonight. i love malec and i love byler and no one was doing this so i did it myself haha. i wanna say a big thankyou to erin (@mikeandwiil on twitter) for beta-ing and reading the draft whilst i was writing it, youtr pretty chill and i love you!!  
> if there's any credit for this please give it to my twitter (@ivngdons) thankyouu

Standing at the altar, Mike watched as Nancy walked down the aisle. Jane had chosen her as a bridesmaid for their wedding, not really knowing any other girls close to her age. Of course, she had asked Max as well, but she had opted out, stating that ‘she wasn’t really fussed with all that girly stuff.’ Walking past him, Nancy took her place to the left side of Mike, with his ring in hand, and faced the aisle. Turning his head, he saw Jane for the first time. She had stopped at the top of the aisle and was smiling at him. Mike knew that he was supposed to find her pretty, well, there was no denying that she  _ was _ pretty, he just felt no attraction towards her; he was doing this to please his parents. He gulped and an uneasy look fell upon his face. He worried for a moment that someone would notice his displeasure at seeing Jane in a wedding dress, but he knew that everyone would pass it off as premarital nervousness. 

 

To his left, he heard Lucas say ‘wow’ at the sight of Jane walking down the aisle towards him. He wished he could feel for her, he really did. And  _ boy _ , had he tried. He’d tried for years to love her like a boyfriend should; it just went too far. It got too far into the relationship for Mike to back out of it, he’d had many chances to do so as well, with Will coming into his life. Fucking Will Byers. Mike was so damn jealous of how open he was with his sexuality, how open he could be. He hated how much he loved Will, he hated how he could never be himself and Will could. He couldn’t with parents like his. Never.

 

Mike held his hand out to Jane and guided her up the stairs, he felt like he couldn’t breathe. She kept looking at him with so much joy and excitement, yet all Mike could think of was how shitty their life was going to be, all for the happiness of his parents. Jane would be stuck in a relationship which was created from a childhood emotional attachment, he wouldn't be able to provide her with love, not the type she wanted anyway. She was stood in front of him now, staring right into his eyes; almost like she was looking into his soul. Mike knew that deep down Jane knew that he didn’t love her, that she was only going through with this because he had asked her to. It almost made him feel better because he hadn’t forced her into marrying him, she was just being the good friend she had always been.

 

He saw Nancy look at him, almost disapprovingly, before handing the ring to Jane. He wondered if Nancy knew that he didn’t like Jane, he didn’t think he was obvious, but Nancy seemed to know everything. Jane turned to Nancy and picked up his ring and put it on his finger. Mike knew that it was time to get Jane’s ring, which meant that soon everything would be official. He didn’t want this at all, he wanted to escape yet at the same time he wanted to make his parents proud so he forced himself to turn around and take the ring off Dustin. After putting the ring on Jane’s finger, Mike let go of her hands. He watched as she admired the ring, a joyous glint in her eyes. He couldn’t understand how she could be so excited about this while he felt so much dread about what was to come. How would he make this work?

 

Out of nowhere, the priest spoke, ‘It is time for Michael Wheeler and Jane Hopper to mark each other with a wedding union. Do you, Jane Hopper, take Michael Wheeler as your lawfully wedded husband?’

 

‘I do’ 

 

‘And do you, Michael Wheeler, take Jane Hopper as your lawfully wedded wife?’

 

Mike started to answer, but was interrupted by the church door slamming. Looking up, Mike saw the one person he had begged not to see, Will. His heart stopped, how could he come here and just stand at the top of the aisle? Why wasn’t he saying anything? Mike knew that Will and he would be considered more than  _ just friends _ , but how could he do this to him after what he had told him this morning? Out of the corner of his eye, Mike saw his father turn around in his seat and exclaim, ‘What’s that  _ queer boy _ doing here?’ 

 

To his right, he heard Dustin whisper ‘Nancy, did Mike invite Will?’

 

‘I did. But i didn’t think he’d show.’

 

Mike’s attention was diverted by his father, who was now getting out of his chair, seemingly to approach Will. The way he walked showed the anger his father felt towards Will, he had disliked him ever since they were children, straight after he had found out that Will was gay. 

 

‘Will, leave this wedding,  _ now _ .’ Mike knew that his father didn’t want Will here because he was gay, he would be infuriated if he knew the real reason as to why Will had come here.

 

Holding his fingers up to stop him from talking, Will calmly said - ‘Ted, this is between me and your son, I’ll leave if he asks me to.’ and walked a few spaces more towards Mike.

 

Mike could feel his heart racing as he looked at Will.  _ Why can’t I be normal?  _ He found himself in a daze that he could tear himself out of, all he could do was stare at the beautiful person in front of him, who had just crashed a wedding for him, who he couldn’t have. There was no doubt that Will thought that Mike was going to kick him out; he was far from the truth.

 

Breaking him out of his trance, Dustin softly said, ‘You gonna be okay, buddy?’ All Mike could do was breathe in response.

 

‘Mike…’ Jane said to get his attention, and succeeding as he turned his head to look away from Will and back at her. ‘Hey…’ 

 

‘I… I can’t breathe.’  _ If only Jane knew that I can’t breathe because of Will _ , Mike thought.

 

‘I know, It’s okay.’

 

‘I can’t do this.’ Jane’s face fell from that large, beaming smile she always seemed to have, to one of confusion. ‘I thought we were doing the right thing, but… this isn’t it.’

 

Seeming to realise what was about to happen, Jane said ‘You don’t have to explain.’

 

‘Jane, I’m sorry.’

 

Putting her hand on Mike’s face, Jane replied ‘Hey...you deserve to be happy.’ Mike smiled at her, he had always known that she’d understand him out of all of the party, she knew him better than most people did. ‘Okay, I’ll be fine.’

 

Finally turning to Will, he could see the panic in his father’s eyes, and he could see his mother who was worriedly looking at the three of them. He looked directly at Will. Mike could see the childish defiance he had grown to love in Will’s posture, but he could also see the undeterrable worry in his eyes.  _ If only Will knew he had nothing to be worried about. _

 

Mike started to walk closer to Will, going down the few steps which raised the altar from the audience before stopping. Will had tipped his head up with the sign of defiance, Mike knew that Will wouldn’t leave if he had asked him to, if that was his intention. The whole room was silent, all Mike could hear was his own breathing. He wasn’t sure if the quietness of the room was because of the situation, or if it was just the blood rushing to his ears that was deafening him.

 

Mike started to walk again, he had only gotten a few steps closer before his father had started to walk towards him from behind Will. That didn’t stop Mike, he wasn’t going to be scared of his father’s opinions anymore, he was going to do what  _ he _ wanted for once, what was going to make  _ him  _ happy.

 

‘Michael, what are you doi-’

 

‘ _ Enough! _ ’

 

Mike closed the remaining distance between Will and himself and grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket before pulling him into a kiss, right in front of his family, friends and all of the wedding guests. When their lips collided, Mike could just feel sparks radiating from his lips, heating up his face and neck. He’d kissed Jane before and it was… nice, but he’d never felt anything like this; he wanted it to carry on forever. Mike pulled back for air and Will chased his lips. Mike looked at his lips once more and decided that if this moment was actually happening and he wasn’t dreaming, he was going to enjoy it. So he leaned back in and kissed Will again, he knew everyone would be watching but in that moment, he couldn’t care less. All that he was aware of was Will’s lips on his own and the electricity that was surging from his lips.

 

Pulling back once more, Mike breathed in heavily while Will smiled at him. ‘You never cease to amaze me, Mike.’

 

Only just realising the severity of what he had just done, Mike said ‘Yeah… what did i just do?’ He couldn’t even look at Will because he was so scared of what his father would say. Turning his head, he saw his father and mother staring right at him. His father’s look was a glare whereas his mother’s was slightly more… understanding yet shocked. His father did what was expected and walked out of the room, his mother in close pursuit.

 

His sister was now in front of him with the biggest smile on her face - ‘Mike, I am  _ so _ proud of you.’

 

Lucas had appeared beside Nancy, mirroring her smile, ‘Guys, that was incredible! It was like watching a live version of the graduate!’ Mike stared at him, not really knowing why he was saying this. ‘Y-you know the Dustin Hoffman movie? The amazing one?’ He pointed to Will, ‘You were Ben…  _ ELAAAINE _ !’, and then to Mike, ‘and you were Elaine! Uh, well, a taller, masculine, handsome version of her, but at the altar though, you were like  _ Ben  _ and then, and then you’re both sitting on the bus at the end of the movie, both  _ totally  _ stoked but wondering like,  _ what are we going to do now?  _ You know?’

 

To this, Mike replied ‘Who invited the loudmouth?’

 

‘Seriously?’

 

Even with all of the problems that Mike knew he was going to have with his parents, he knew that he was accepted by his friends and family and he knew that he’d always have Will, and that’s all he needed to know in this moment. Mike was finally happy.


End file.
